Strengthening the Early Childhood Education Continuum
By Tom Keily, Alyssa Evans, and Bruce Atchison, Education Commission of the States
Early childhood education encompasses programs from birth to age 5, and those from kindergarten through third grade. Practitioners often focus on the birth-to-age-5 sector, and policymakers center on pre-K and K-3 policies. Bridging this disconnect provides opportunities to improve quality and effectiveness across the continuum. Creating a quality, aligned continuum can create opportunities to close the achievement gap and improve third-grade reading and math proficiency.
Nationally, there are notable gaps in student achievement across the early childhood education continuum, and these gaps manifest themselves in many ways. For example, two out of three fourth-graders are not reading proficiently, as determined by the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Gaps such as these can be attributed, in part, to the fact that many children living in poverty enter school with cognitive and language skills that are often lower than their peers from higher-income families. Quality early childhood learning experiences can give all students a pathway to success. By providing a solid foundation, these programs have the potential to improve children’s future success and assist in closing achievement gaps....
Click here to read the complete report from the Education Commission of the States.
Reprinted with permission from the Education Commission of the States. Tom Keily is a Policy Analyst, Alyssa Evans is a Policy Researcher, and Bruce Atchison is a Principal Contractor with the Early Learning Institute at the Education Commission of the States. The complete report, with resources and the pull-out list of guiding questions, is available through the Journal’s resources link: bit.ly/MA20Jres.
By Tom Keily, Alyssa Evans, and Bruce Atchison, Education Commission of the States
Early childhood education encompasses programs from birth to age 5, and those from kindergarten through third grade. Practitioners often focus on the birth-to-age-5 sector, and policymakers center on pre-K and K-3 policies. Bridging this disconnect provides opportunities to improve quality and effectiveness across the continuum. Creating a quality, aligned continuum can create opportunities to close the achievement gap and improve third-grade reading and math proficiency.
Click here to read the complete report from the Education Commission of the States.
Reprinted with permission from the Education Commission of the States. Tom Keily is a Policy Analyst, Alyssa Evans is a Policy Researcher, and Bruce Atchison is a Principal Contractor with the Early Learning Institute at the Education Commission of the States. The complete report, with resources and the pull-out list of guiding questions, is available through the Journal’s resources link: bit.ly/MA20Jres.